Abstract
Prenatal expectations describe various domains a woman envisions in preparation for her role as a new mother and influence how women transition into the maternal role. Although the maternal role is strongly influenced by the prevailing familial and sociocultural context, research characterizing prenatal expectations in ethnic minority and low-income women is lacking. As part of the largest growing minority group in the USA, Latina mothers represent an important group to study. Two hundred and ten low-income Mexican American women were administered the Prenatal Experiences Scale for Mexican Americans (PESMA) that was adapted to capture specific cultural aspects of prenatal expectations. Measures of current support, prenatal depressive symptoms, and other sociodemographic characteristics were also completed to assess validity. Exploratory factor analysis identified three underlying factors of prenatal expectations: paternal support, family support, and maternal role fulfillment. Associations among these subscales and demographic and cultural variables were conducted to characterize women who reported higher and lower levels of expectations. The PESMA demonstrated good concurrent validity when compared to measures of social support, prenatal depressive symptoms, and other sociodemographic constructs. A culturally sensitive measure of prenatal expectations is an important step towards a better understanding of how Mexican American women transition to the maternal role and identify culturally specific targets for interventions to promote maternal health.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
For the purposes of this research, “Mexican American” refers to any women of Mexican heritage residing in the USA, regardless of nativity or citizenship.
References
Baor L, Soskolne V (2010) Mothers of IVF and spontaneously conceived twins: a comparison of prenatal maternal expectations, co** resources and maternal stress. Hum Reprod 25(6):1490–1496. doi:10.1093/humrep/deq045
Barrera M, Caples H, Tien J (2001) The psychological sense of economic hardship: measurement models, validity, and cross-ethnic equivalence for urban families. Am J Community Psychol 29:493–517
Boyd R, Le H-N, Somberg R (2005) Review of screening instruments for postpartum depression. Arch Womens Ment Health 8:141–153. doi:10.1007/s00737-005-0096-6
Campos B, Dunkel Schetter C, Abdou C, Hobel C, Glynn L, Sandman C (2008) Familism, social support, and stress: positive implications for pregnant Latinas. Cult Divers Ethn Minor Psychol 14(2):155–162. doi:10.1037/1099-9809.14.2.155
Castillo L, Perez F, Castillo R, Ghosheh M (2010) Construction and initial validation of the Marianismo beliefs scale. Couns Psychol Q 23(2):163–175. doi:10.1080/09515071003776036
Cohen J (1988) Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences, 2nd edn. Erlbaum, New York
Coleman P, Nelson E, Sundre D (1999) The relationship between prenatal expectations and postnatal attitudes among first-time mothers. J Reprod Infant Psychol 17(1):28–39. doi:10.1080/02646839908404582
Cox JL, Holden JM, Sagovsky R (1987) Detection of postnatal depression: development of the 10-item Edinburgh postnatal depression scale. Br J Psychiatry 150:782–786. doi:10.1192/bjp.150.6.782
Cuellar I, Arnold B, Maldonado R (1995) Acculturation rating scale for Mexican Americans-II: a revision of the original ARSMA scale. Hisp J Behav Sci 17:275–303. doi:10.1177/07399863950173001
Darvill R, Skirton H, Farrand P (2010) Psychological factors that impact on women’s experiences of first-time motherhood: a qualitative study of the transition. Midwifery 26:357–366. doi:10.1016/j.midw.2008.07.006
Delmore-Ko P, Pancer S, Hunsberger B, Pratt M (2000) Becoming a parent: the relation between prenatal expectations and postnatal experience. J Fam Psychol 14(4):625–640. doi:10.1037/0893-3200.14.4.625
Fabrigar L, Wegener D, MacCallum R, Strahan E (1999) Evaluating the use of exploratory factor analysis in psychological research. Psychol Methods 4(3):272–299. doi:10.1037/1082-989X.4.3.272
Field T (2011) Prenatal depression effects on early development: a review. Infant Behav Dev 34(1):1–14. doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2010.09.008
Flores E, Tschann JM, Dimas JM, Bachen EA, Pasch LA, de Groat CL (2008) Perceived discrimination, perceived stress, and mental and physical health among Mexican-origin adults. Hisp J Behav Sci 30(4):401–424. doi:10.1177/0739986308323056
Fox G, Bruce C, Combs-Orme T (2000) Parenting expectations and concerns of fathers and mothers of newborn infants. Fam Relat 49(2):123–131. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3729.2000.00123.x
Garcia-Esteve L, Ascaso C, Ojuel J, Navarro P (2003) Validation of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) in Spanish mothers. J Affect Disord 75:71–76. doi:10.1016/S0165-0327(02)00020-4
Germán M, Gonzales N, Dumka L (2009) Familism values as a protective factor for Mexican-origin adolescents exposed to deviant peers. J Early Adolesc 29(1):16–42. doi:10.1177/0272431608324475
Guendelman S, Malin C, Herr-Harthorn B, Vargas P (2001) Orientations to motherhood and male partner support among women in Mexico and Mexican-origin women in the United States. Soc Sci Med 52:1805–1813. doi:10.1016/S0277-9536(00)00296-3
Hackel L, Ruble D (1992) Changes in the marital relationship after the first baby is born: predicting the impact of expectancy disconfirmation. J Pers Soc Psychol 62(6):944–957. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.62.6.944
Hamilton B, Martin J, Ventura S, Sutton P, Mecacker F (2005) Births: preliminary data for 2004. National Vital Statistics Reports 54(8):1–20. Retrieved November 2, 2012 from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr54/nvsr54_08.pdf
Hamilton ER, Hummer RA, You XH, Padilla YC (2006) Health insurance and health care utilization of U.S. born Mexican American children. Soc Sci Quart 87(5):1280–1294. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6237.2006.00428.x
Hu L, Bentler PM (1999) Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Struct Equ Modeling 6(1):1–55. doi:10.1080/10705519909540118
Kiang L, Moreno A, Robinson J (2004) Maternal preconceptions about parenting predict child temperament, maternal sensitivity, and children’s empathy. Dev Psychol 40(6):1081–1092. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.40.6.1081
Knight G, Gonzales N, Saenz D, Bonds D, Germán M, Deardorff J, Roosa M, Updegraff K (2009) The Mexican American cultural values scales for adolescents and adults. J Early Adolesc 30(3):444–481. doi:10.1177/0272431609338178
Lara M, Le H-N, Letechipia G, Hochhausen L (2009) Prenatal depression in Latinas in the U.S. and Mexico. Matern Child Health J 13:567–576. doi:10.1007/s10995-008-0379-4
Lawrence E, Nylen K, Cobb R (2007) Prenatal expectations and marital satisfaction over the transition to parenthood. J Fam Psychol 21(2):155–164. doi:10.1037/0893-3200.21.2.155
Lederman R (1996) Psychosocial adaptation in pregnancy: Assessment of seven dimensions of maternal development (2nd edn). Springer Pub Co, New York
Lucas F (2010) Pregnant women of Mexican descent: constructions of motherhood. Soc Work Health Care 49(10):946–962. doi:10.1080/00981389.2010.518875
Marin G (1993) Influence of acculturation on familism and self-identification among Hispanics. In: Bernal ME, Knight GP (eds) Ethnic identity: Formation and transmission among Hispanics and other minorities. SUNY Press, New York, pp 181–196
Martin JA, Hamilton BE, Ventura SJ, Osterman MJK, Wilson EC, Matthews TJ (2012) Births: final data for 2010. National Vital Statistics Reports 54(8):1–20. Retrieved April 8, 2013 from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr61/nvsr61_01.pdf
Martinez-Schallmoser L, Telleen S, MacMullen N (2003) The effect of social support and acculturation on postpartum depression in Mexican-American women. J Transcult Nurs 14(4):329–333. doi:10.1177/1043659603257162
McHale J, Kazali C, Rotman T, Talbot J, Carleton M, Lieberson R (2004) The transition to coparenthood: parents’ prebirth expectations and early coparental adjustment at 3 months postpartum. Dev Psychopathol 16:711–713. doi:10.1017/S0954579404004742
Page R (2004) Positive pregnancy outcomes in Mexican immigrants: what can we learn? J Obst Gyn Neo 33(6):783–790. doi:10.1177/0884217504270595
Pancer S, Pratt M, Hunsberger B, Gallant M (2000) Thinking ahead: complexity of expectations and the transition to parenthood. J Pers 68(2):253–280. doi:10.1111/1467-6494.00097
Rafaelli M, Ontai L (2004) Gender socialization in Latino/a families: results from two retrospective studies. Sex Roles 50:287–299. doi:10.1023/B:SERS.0000018886.58945.06
Ramierez RR, de la Cruz GP (2002) The Hispanic population in the United States: March 2002. Current Population Reports (pp. 20–545). US Census Bureau, Washington DC
Rubin R (1984) Maternal identity and maternal experience. Springer, New York
Sagrestano L, Feldman P, Rini C, Woo G, Dunkel-Schetter C (1999) Ethnicity and social support during pregnancy. Am J Community Psychol 27(6):869–898. doi:10.1023/A:1022266726892
Shaw E, Levitt C, Wong S, Kaczorowski J, The McMaster University Postpartum Research Group (2006) Systematic review of the literature on postpartum care: effectiveness of postpartum support to improve maternal parenting, mental health, quality of life, and physical health. Birth 33:210–220. doi:10.1111/j.1523-536X.2006.00106.x
Sheng X, Le H-N, Perry D (2010) Perceived satisfaction with social support and depressive symptoms in perinatal Latinas. J Transcult Nurs 21:35–44. doi:10.1177/1043659609348619
Sherbourne CD, Stewart AL (1991) The MOS social support survey. Soc Sci Med 32(6):705–714. doi:10.1016/0277-9536(91)90150-B
Smith J (1999) Identity development during the transition to motherhood: an interpretative phenomenological analysis. J Reprod Infant Psychol 17(3):281–299. doi:10.1080/02646839908404595
Tamis-Lemonda C, Kahana-Kalman R (2009) Mothers’ views at the transition to a new baby: variation across ethnic groups. Parent-Sci Pract 9:36–55. doi:10.1080/15295190802656745
U.S. Census Bureau (2011) The Hispanic population: 2010. Retrieved November 2, 2012. http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-04.pdf
Weems G, Onwuegbuzie A, Lustig D (2003) Profiles of respondents who respond inconsistently to positively- and negatively-worded items on rating scales. Eval Res Educ 17(1):45–60. doi:10.1080/14664200308668290
Wilson E (1998) Acculturation and changes in the likelihood of pregnancy and feelings about pregnancy among women of Mexican origin. Women Health 47(1):45–64. doi:10.1300/J013v47n01_03
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by a grant R01 MH083173-01A1 from NIMH (to Linda Luecken, Nancy Gonzales, and Keith Crnic). The first author of this manuscript was supported by a National Research Service Award, F31MH0953141, NIMH.
Conflict of interest
The authors of this manuscript have no potential conflicts of interests, including financial interests or gains.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gress-Smith, J.L., Roubinov, D.S., Tanaka, R. et al. Prenatal expectations in Mexican American women: development of a culturally sensitive measure. Arch Womens Ment Health 16, 303–314 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-013-0350-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-013-0350-2